Flower by Kenzo L'Elixir

10 Aug Flower by Kenzo L'Elixir

In 2000, Kenzo launched Flower by Kenzo, which I remember being quite taken with at the time. For those who haven’t experienced the scent before, it is, as the name suggests, a lively, feminine floral presented in a tall, column-shaped bottle featuring a poppy.

15 years later comes L’Elixir, which features a strong, ‘militant rose’ inspired by events taking place in October 1967 in Washington, when a young American girl named Jan Rose Kamir took part in a protest march against the Vietnam war.

In front of the Pentagon, she offered a flower to armed soldiers. The image was captured by French photographer Marc Riboud and was seen around the world.

This simple concept of making the world more beautiful has been taken on board when creating this fragrance, as the photograph was a source of inspiration.

Rose seems to be cropping up in a few products at the moment, and L’Elixir is no exception. This gourmand floral (some might describe it as a ‘floriental’) once again features the same shaped bottle and bold Bulgarian rose, as well as raspberry, mandarin, orange blossom absolute, bourbon vanilla absolute and praline accord.

The latter two ingredients give the scent a powdery richness which turns it into a rather sexy little number.

Below, guests were invited to experience the scent of each individual ingredient at the recent UK press launch, held at Kenzo’s boutique in Mayfair, London.

As much as I loved – and wore – Flower when it first launched, I think I love this even more. It won’t be to everyones’ taste but it’s right up my street, a punchy floral with a heady, modern twist that is on the verge of being edible.

I wish I could capture the beauty of this scent in an photograph, but you’ll just have to take my word for it!

Flower by Kenzo L’Elixir is available from September 2015; from £47.50 for 30ml.